Around the Bears

Governor believes sports brings people together

Pat Quinn bemoans Chicago Bears' poor performance

December 29, 2009|By Fred Mitchell

Professional sports used to serve as a pleasant diversion for millions of fans. But the games are having more impact because of the chunks of time, money and emotions that are invested in local heroes.

Gov. Pat Quinn sees the influence throughout the state, particularly as the Bears have been so disappointing with a third straight non-playoff season.

"Sports are a metaphor for (helping) a lot of people get through the day," Quinn said. "When I worked in factories in college, that was the lingo. Everybody, no matter what your station in life, you talked about the White Sox, Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks."

The Bears entered Monday night's game with a 5-9 record but played inspired in the first half to take a 16-0 lead.

"I was at (a Chicago restaurant) on Christmas Eve and people were kind of down because the Bears have had a bad season," Quinn said. "But you can't just keep your head down. I mean, the whole state roots for the Bears. It is hard to believe that just a couple of years ago Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl (for a touchdown). Now we're back on planet Earth. There is a lot of rebuilding to do."

Several surveys have confirmed Chicago is indeed a Bears town, with similar sentiment throughout the state. Yet the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks also grab considerable attention.

"There is a long way to go for the Cubs, and this is from someone who was born a White Sox fan," Quinn said. "But my heart is big enough for two teams. I figure that if I am going to get re-elected to this job, and the Cubs and Sox play in a World Series ... that's my best campaign."

Sights seen: Quinn spoke to the Northern Illinois football team Sunday evening after the team's workout at Northwestern's indoor practice facility. NIU travels to Toronto this week to face South Florida in the International Bowl.

"I think the governor needs to connect to the fans and their teams," Quinn said. "We have to have a community feel. We're a family in Illinois; we're not just a crowd of individuals and everybody goes their own separate way."

Word on the street: The Bears Fans United Campaign recently sought to gather public backing to pressure the McCaskey family to fire coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo. The organization also said it would donate leftover funds to the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation.

But the foundation has distanced itself from the Bears Fans United.

"My clients neither endorsed nor had any involvement with the Bears Fans United Campaign, nor were they aware of (it) until this afternoon," attorney Kelly Kramer said in a statement.

The foundation appreciated the offer but said legal restrictions make it impossible for it to accept donations from organizations like Bears Fans United. The group has removed the foundation link from it's Web site, Kramer said.

Overheard: Bernard Berrian emerged from the tunnel into the 17-degree chill factor and shouted: "Oooh, I didn't miss this!"

The last word: "There are a ton of fans here to watch a team that isn't very good." -- ESPN broadcaster Mike Tirico talking about the Bears at the start of Monday's game.